Ethnic minorities make up a big part of the migrant work force and often fill low paid, low skill or temporary positions, despite often being educated and substantially skilled workers like teachers and accountants in their country of origin. They come here for many reasons but low wages, high unemployment and scarce job opportunities in their country of origin are the usual culprits.

In Britain they can usually earn a better wage and send money home to their families even if it is in low-skilled work compared with what they can do   at home.
Most survive on the national minimum wage, currently £5.75 per hour. Many are forced to work two and even three jobs to support their families. Often, they are isolated, may not be fluent in English and so are not informed of their employment rights.

The inherent vulnerability of migrant workers contributes to the idea of employers and agencies that they are more ‘flexible’ than domestic labour.
In a 2006 Home Office study, employers were asked why they used migrant labour and said that the difficulty was finding domestic workers who were willing to work the flexible hours required. One employer said: “The British want to work nine to five and to have weekends [free]... The restaurant is open 6.30 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week.”

In the same study, employers also pointed to lower absence rates amongst migrant workers and several employers in agriculture stressed their reliability and the fact that they ‘turned up’. And sometimes, it’s no wonder they ‘turn up’. It was reported by locals that labourers working for the company S&A Davies have to walk four miles to the shops from the strawberry fields in Briarley, Herefordshire. Their accommodation is four to a caravan with shared kitchen and toilet facilities. The entire site is encircled with a high barbed wire fence and patrolled by a security team for the workers ‘safety’.

Some employers in the Home Office study also mentioned lower turnover as an advantage of migrant workers. But, this could be down to the fact that many migrant workers are here on work or study schemes based on restrictive contracts. It’s very inconvenient for a worker registered on a programme to change employer, as they would have to go through the entire registration process from scratch. Workers may be contracted for a fixed period to work for a specific employer and can’t “just go off and work for someone else” as one employer said.

Several employers explicitly mentioned that migrant workers did not mind doing overtime. In the Administration, Business and Management sector, in East Anglia, employers made comments about the additional hours. One said that some migrant workers “will work all hours”; another that they “will work extra hours and do not need paying time and a half”.

One construction employer said that he paid migrant workers less than domestic workers and that was one of the reasons he liked to use them: “They are a lot cheaper and a lot more convenient”.

A study by the West Midlands Low Pay Unit (WMLPU) found that non-payment of the national minimum wage most frequently affects women, young people and ethnic minorities. Those working in hairdressing, retail, clothing manufacture, home workers and pieceworkers are the hardest hit. A study on home working uncovered cases of home workers still being paid as little as 10p an hour.

Low wages and low qualifications give workers a fragile position in the labour market, with the result that they are afraid to speak out about getting their employment rights. A postal survey of low paid workers conducted by WMLPU suggested that about a quarter had suffered from adverse changes to their terms and conditions after they did speak out, usually a reduction in hours or removal of paid breaks, which offset any increase in wages.

Fighting back - The Mitie cleaners

In London however, things are starting to change. Cleaners in particular are getting organized and fighting back. The Justice for Cleaners campaign was initiated by T&G/Unite and won many important wage increases and improvements for cleaners around the city. Since the campaign was brought to a close in 2007, cleaners have somewhat been left to fight on their own.  A recent case in point has been the cleaners at Mitie. They decided to get organized and fight for the London living wage (£7.45). Management gave them the pay rise but immediately changed their shifts from 4pm – 11pm to 11pm to 6am. The cleaners protested against the drastic change in their conditions and refused to work the new shift. All were then made redundant. Now they have got together with other cleaners around the city and have organized a series of ‘un-official’ demonstrations outside the site of Willis Insurance Brokers where they used to work. So far, the union has not supported these demonstrations. The rumour is that after the noisy Justice for Cleaners demos, they made an agreement with the business sector to let up. But, despite this, the Mitie cleaners are determined. They will continue their demonstrations until they get what they justly deserve - a decent wage and decent conditions for doing important work.